A NEW Taunton Garden Centre restaurant officially opened this week after months of refurbishment.
Monkton Elm Garden Centre, situated in Monkton Heathfield, Taunton, originally planned out the new-look restaurant in a look to 'protect' its future.
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An official opening for the new restaurant at Monkton Elm was held on Monday, March 24 - with a ribbon cut to commemorate the new-look eatery.
The new restaurant opens up after around three months of works - replacing a former temporary restaurant inside the garden centre.
The Taunton Garden Centre was once a "successful tomato nursery" run by David and Luella Bellman. In the last 40 years, it has expanded into a modern garden centre and is still run by the Bellman family.
A previously submitted planning application mentioned the pressure garden centres are under "to encourage customers to visit their site rather than shop online".
It also added that offering a bigger restaurant provision would encourage "customers to visit all year round".
A spokesperson from Monkton Elm Garden Centre said: "We held online surveys with our loyalty card holders, asking for feedback on various solutions to issues raised and designed the new space with this in mind.
"One of the main issues was sound, our old restaurant was extremely noisy, we have added the ceiling features with noise absorption panels which will hopefully alleviate the problem.
"Another customer suggestion was to improve the temperature in the room, with cold air blasting from the outside, and extremely hot days in the summer. To this end, we have added various temperature control measures to solve the problem.
"It’s beautiful, more comfortable, the service points are easy to navigate, and we now have the facility to make and bake many more of our selections in-store.
"We opened the doors to our new restaurant on March 24, it was a soft opening to ensure our teams are able to navigate the new space with minimal disruption to our patrons. We plan on hosting a formal opening event in the next few months."
This won't be the last move you'll see at the Taunton garden centre, as a new garden room is expected to open soon too.
The spokesperson added: "Our new garden room will be opening on a few weeks time too! Offering outdoor seating all year round, with comfortable, relaxed eating areas and sofas."
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